With friends like Ruse who needs enemies?

My response to Ruse is now available over on the ABC Religion and Ethics portal. Enjoy!

Here I am feeling like I'm bashing my head against a brick wall...

...because of this thread on the BCSE's page.

I can't believe the total lack of logic here. The kerfuffle arose when a former NCSE employee, Nick Matzke, decided to have a gratuitous shot at Richard Dawkins for "playing the Nazi card", whatever that means. Read all about it here. BCSE official Roger Stanyard decided to defend Matzke over on Dawkins' site, where it inevitably found its way, as well as at Why Evolution is True. Much of the defence was about the alleged need for such bodies as the NCSE and BCSE to take an accommodationist stance towards religion.

But that is not true. Such bodies exist to defend the teaching of well-established science. They do not need to argue for a philosophical position that science and religion are "compatible" (whatever exactly that means - it it simplistic and misleading to say such a thing without a helluva lot of qualifications, reservations, and explanations) or a theological position that some kind of non-literalist view of the Bible is theologically correct. The NCSE and BCSE needn't get into any of this. They should be defending secularism, the evidential basis of the science itself, and (where relevant) constitutional standards relating to freedom of religion.

They definitely should not be defending atheism, or New Atheism (whatever that is understood to mean), or anything of the kind. Nor have they been asked to do so by Richard Dawkins, Jerry Coyne, or anyone else involved in the debate, despite numerous allegations to the contrary (see the threads I've linked to). Asking for neutrality on the theism/atheism issue and the accommodationism/anti-accommodationism issue is not the same as asking for support of atheism or anti-accommodationism.

On this, I know that Richard Dawkins, Jerry Coyne, Ophelia Benson, PZ Myers, and any other usual suspects, all agree with me. We are NOT asking for the BCSE or any other such body to support atheism or anything similar. This has been said many, many times.

PZ Myers puts it well and concisely. Secularism and atheism are not the same thing.

Honestly, I just don't understand what's so hard about this. What's so hard about asking for an organisation to be neutral about whether there is a God, what theological views may or may not be correct, and whether religion is or is not compatible with science? That's what's been asked for - and all that's been asked for - again and again, spelled out clearly on each occasion. Contrary to the pronouncements of Roger Stanyard on the first thread I linked to above, we are simply not asking the BCSE (or the NCSE or any other science organisation) to support the New Atheism.

Stanyard says: "Basically they want the NCSE and the BCSE to back 'New Atheism' ..."

No we don't. That's why I feel like I'm bashing my head against a brick wall. We have repeatedly said something totally different. We do not want those any organisations to do any such thing. We want them, rather, to adopt a stance of neutrality towards us. Specifically, we want them to stop attacking us and stop taking sides. When that reasonable request is met with a blatant misrepresentation of our position, I really have to wonder...

An interesting petition

This one. Not something I can sign, for obvious reasons, but if this is legit someone has his heart in the right place.

2011 Hugo Award nominees

Novel
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

Novella
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)
"The Lifecycle of Software Objects" by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
“The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)
“The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Troika” by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)

Novelette
“Eight Miles” by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)
“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)
“The Jaguar House, in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010)
“Plus or Minus” by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010)
“That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010)

Short Story
“Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)
“Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
“The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)

Related Work
Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001, by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)
"The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing," by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland)
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907–1948): Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor)
Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells

Graphic Story
"Fables: Witches," written by Bill Willingham; illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)
"Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse," written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
"Grandville Mon Amour," by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)
"Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel," written and illustrated by Howard Tayler; colors by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton (Hypernode)
"The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man," written by Mike Carey; illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)

Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner)
How to Train Your Dragon screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (DreamWorks)
Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright (Universal)
Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney)

Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
"Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
"Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
"Doctor Who: Vincent and the Doctor," written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales)
"... Me, Ray Bradbury," written by Rachel Bloom; directed by Paul Briganti
"The Lost Thing," written by Shaun Tan; directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures)

Editor, Short Form
John Joseph Adams
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams

Editor, Long Form
Lou Anders
Ginjer Buchanan
Moshe Feder
Liz Gorinsky
Nick Mamatas
Beth Meacham
Juliet Ulman

Professional Artist
Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniere
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

Semiprozine
Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker
Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong
Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal

Fanzine
Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger, edited by Guy H. Lillian III
The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon
File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
StarShipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith

Fan Writer
James Bacon
Claire Brialey
Christopher J Garcia
James Nicoll
Steven H Silver

Fan Artist
Brad W. Foster
Randall Munroe
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2009 or 2010, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award). All Campbell finalists are in their second year of eligibility.
Saladin Ahmed
Lauren Beukes
Larry Correia
Lev Grossman
Dan Wells

H. Allen Orr reviews The Moral Landscape

I like Orr's book reviews, and this is one not an exception. It's a civil, thoughtful, clear, and incisive look at the philosophical problems that haunt The Moral Landscape. There are some speculations near the end that I'm not especially in sympathy with (e.g. the comparison of morality to mathematics, which I don't think can be made to work), but Orr is not committed to them - he's just considering possible alternatives.

Once again, the book has attracted a very high class of reviewers.

Another piece on the Fenton case

This one from South Dakota.

An employment case re Koran burning...

... together with an editorial. Should this guy have got his job back or not?

A long article on freedom of speech...

...from The Montreal Gazette. This one is worth a look - it's a thoughtful reflection on what freedom of speech means now.

Some analysis of the Wilders case...

... from what I take to be a Turkish newspaper. Offered for whatever it's worth rather than because I endorse it or otherwise.

Sunday supervillainy - Emma Frost is not a nice person

This is from an online preview of Uncanny X-Men #536.

Emma Frost may be shacked up with Scott Summers these days - love can take people in strange directions - but she is still a supervillain at heart. Look at her behaviour in this round-table conference after a warship from the militaristic Breakworld enters our solar system and is boarded by a group of X-Men and S.W.O.R.D. agents, including the brown-skinned alien who works for Agent Brand (the woman with the green hair).

The Breakworld folks ask for political asylum on Earth, but can you trust them? This is the same bunch that tried to destroy Earth with a giant bullet during Joss Whedon's legendary run on Astonishing X-Men. (Kitty Pryde was trapped inside the Breakworld space bullet for months of in-universe time until Magneto rescued her as a peace offering to the X-Men.)

In case you can't read it easily, the alien, who speaks in a hissing voice, says, "I can psssychically sssscan them."

Emma: "I can pssssychically sssssscan them too, Sssscott."

Not nice, Emma. Not nice at all.